Book Reviews

Wolfgang Fleischer is a historian and works at the Bundeswehr Military History Museum in Dresden. His many publications include: Military Technology of the First World War; German Artillery 1914-1918; Panzerfaust and other German Infantry Anti-Tank Weapons; The Wehrmacht Weapons Testing Ground at Kummersdorf; Russian Tanks and Armoured Vehicles 1917-1945; Military Vehicles of the Reichswehr; German Infantry Carts, Army Field Wagons and Army Sleds 1900-1945. (Don't some of those titles just roll off the tongue?) Anthony Tucker-Jones is a former defence intelligence officer and a widely published expert on regional conflicts, and Armoured and Aerial Warfare. He is the author of numerous books, including Slaughter on the Eastern Front...

June 1944 and a small group of Special Air Service troops under the command of Captain Patrick Garstin MC are dropped into occupied France with instructions to create mayhem and pave the way for the invasion by delaying or preventing Hitler and his generals rushing their Panzer divisions to the D Day landing zones and pushing the Allies back. Captain Garstin should have been invalided out of the army because of injuries sustained in a previous operation but his grit and determination as well as the assistance ( or connivance ) of Paddy Mayne he and as dangerous and wild bunch of raiders were dispatched on this mission. Having carried out a number of dangerous and very successful operations causing great damage to the German war...

This is the second volume of a two part history of the Light Division in the Peninsular War. It does justice to the story of the light troops, infantry cavalry and gunners, that screened the British Armies in the Peninsular. It tells of actions missed in big picture accounts that skip from one big battle to the next. By contrast to old fashioned formation histories, it uses individual testimony from officers and soldiers to provide insight into the human experience in this long arduous campaign. The author's experience as re-enactors is evident in some of the detail, and in their presence in some of the photographs. The book is supported by black and white photographs of the ground and re-enactors and sketch maps. The errors in...

A hard book to review this one. I don't think I really "got it" in all honesty. It's really well researched certainly and covers all aspects of how religion related to the Roman world of the period. That is also the problem, it reads like a collection of articles cobbled into a book. Each chapter has an author and ends with a long list of notes which only reinforces that feeling. I think this is one for the real Roman enthusiast rather than the general or even slightly interested reader. I have given it 3.5 because it is well researched and as mentioned would be useful to an enthusiast or scholar of the period

This is a well researched book which studies the Roman Soldier, how he was recruited, paid, led and how he retired. While battles do form, part of life their service was not just one battle after another, so this looks at the life of the soldier. Much of what remains is written by officers but information on gravestones and monuments gives the author much information about how soldiers lived. The book is titled ‘Gladius’ purely as this was the weapon carried by most Roman soldiers during the course of their domination. It is not the main thrust of the book but is about the man who thrust it forward. The importance of the army is explained and how Emperors and generals kept their troops happy, often through bribes. The different types...

This book is somewhat different from the usual Images of War series in that there is a lot of text, very interesting text. There are a lot of photographs but this 214 page book gives us a much more in-depth look at the subject matter. This is great. The book covers the formation of the LRDG in early 1940 when it was recognised that a reconnaissance group was required to let commanders know what the enemy were doing and where they are. Travelling across the desert is a lot like travelling at sea in that there are few landmarks to navigate by. Having a dedicated navigator then was very important and people were trained in using the sun compass. The book’s Chapters follow a chronological system and cover operations and equipment. Chapter...

This really should be called The encyclopedia of WW2 British Military Trucks. It contains a wealth of information on virtually all marques used by the War Ministry, from the well known Austin's, Bedfords and Fords; to the lesser known Karriers, Crossleys, Tilling-Stevens and Vulcans (not the bomber)! In between are the AECs, ERFs, Fodens, Guys, Scammells and many others. The book contains accurate dimensions of the vehicles, some very good "in service" photos of most vehicles and details of the uses the trucks were put to. Did you know that Commer had a Beetle long before Volkswagen produced one; or that four Leylands were converted to mobile Churches and driven by unit Padres! This book is a must for the enthusiast and model-maker...

I asked for this book for a couple of reasons. As a scale modeller the photos would come in handy for future projects and my great-uncle Charlie fought in the Western Desert, so it's a campaign I've always had an interest in. Like the other Images of war book I had about armour in the battles for Monte Cassino, it proved to be a very interesting read. The several chapters dealt briefly with the different phases of the campaign but had enough detail in them to keep one interested and give a fairly comprehensive account of what happened during them and the subsequent developments. As expected, the photographs were excellent, with several showing Rommel and his staff poring over plans or discussing the battle. The ones showing the...

Following on from my first post, I recommend the following books for those either into Military Modelling or are just old vehicle petrol heads. Military Vehicle Data, Bellona publishing. Compiled by Mike Conniford The first is a collection of twenty-two, 20 paged pamphlets, about 9"x 6.5". Each double page spread contains b&w photos of the titled vehicle, 1/76 scale drawings, a brief summary of the vehicle and some technical information. While not over-detailed, they certainly contain sufficient information to help with a build or two. This collection first appeared in 1973 and is regular on e-bay. Most of the vehicles are British, Canadian or American; #5 and #10 are solely German and France, Italy and Holland make occasional...